During the end of the week before your friends arrived, more and more scouts had joined you at the castle, slowly making the cold stone walls feel warm with life and laughter. You had become quite acquainted with some of the veterans; Miche, Nanaba and Gelgar going out of their way to give you advice and counselling on how to improve your skills. Miche is dead set on you having a super special talent, claiming he can smell it. You play along, not really sure what that talent could be. The only thing you could think of your ability to read people, but how could he smell that? You even got to talking some more with Erwin, the few times he wasn't in his office.
Now that your friends were here, it felt like the last puzzle piece was put in place. The castle started to feel more like home than any other place you had lived since Shiganshina. Sasha and Mikasa was assigned as your roommates, Hange happy to pull some strings for you. You even managed to help Connie, Marco and Jean get a room together, knowing they would appreciate it. Armin was also assigned as their rommate, after they denied your request to let him bunk together with Eren and move him to a proper room. You tried at least.
"Y/N, what can't you do?", Sasha exclaimed happy at the news. She confessed she was quite nervous she would end up alone. She was way too used to you staying together, and not being with you as much as she could, in a situation where you all knew time was limited, scared her. You winked at her.
"Befriending the higher-ups has its perks", you said jokingly as you changed out of your uniform, swiftly putting on your nightgown. You felt overwhelmingly tired, today's events had worn you out even though it wasn't necessarily a very challenging day physically.
"Hey, Y/N, wanna have a sleepover?", Sasha asked you with a grin.
"Uh- Hell yeah! Duh!", you answered her with a giggle and quickly tiptoed over to her bunk. You wiggled in under her covers and you both snuggled up.
"You can join too if you want Mikasa. I'm sure we'll all fit if we squeeze together!", Sasha offered her, Mikasa, peeping her head up over the edge of her bed on the top bunk across the little room, let out a slight chuckle, shaking her head lightly.
"I doubt we'd ever manage to sleep like that, and you and I have early training tomorrow Sasha", Mikasa reminded her.
"Shit, that's true. We better sleep straight away then Y/N, no gossiping tonight!", she said determined. You always struggled to actually fall asleep every time you did this, always ending up talking about anything and everything. You nodded, determined as well.
Of course that didn't happen, the both of you actively catching up with each other's events from the past week, keeping you up several hours more.
~
You fluttered your eyes open, the morning sun making its way through the window. You noticed Sasha and Mikasa had already left since the newest recruits had an early training evaluation. The scouts wasted no time making sure everyone was up to standard before venturing out on the expedition next month. They would have to complete a series of tests so the scouts could pin point where they are at, followed by several 'beginner courses', easing them into how they train here in the Survey Corps. You had already noticed training was much different here in comparison to the one at boot camp. In boot camp they have a much broader spectrum, keeping you in shape and developing skills that fit all regiments. Here however, training focuses more on what is useful in the Survey Corps specifically. It's heavy training, as you basically have to strengthen and improve everything you have in your body. Manoeuvring the ODM gear depends on complete control of your physique and balance, and being able to use your gear well is essential in this regiment.
'Seems like I have the day to myself up until dinner-time. There is no Special Ops squad training today either, which is a first'
You remembered Eren telling you he planned to sleep in all day since you have the day off, ruling out the possibility of meeting up with him. You decided to get yourself ready for the day and seek out Hange. She must have something in mind for you.
~
Opening the grand doors to mess hall, you were met by the familiar smell of the usual porridge they serve at breakfast time. At the table furthest in the room to the right, you spotted Hange and Moblit accompanied by Miche and Nanaba, eating breakfast at one of the tables reserved for veteran soldiers. You hurried over after grabbing a bowl of porridge, eager to start the day.
"Y/N! Take a seat!", Hange exclaimed, noticing you moving towards them. You had been sitting at the veteran table up until now, naturally so since these were the only people you knew. However, you reckon you will have to change between tables from now on, since your friends are here. You took a seat beside Miche, sitting across from Hange and Moblit. Miche ruffled you hair as you seated yourself.
"Morning Snorty", he greeted you, going back to his food. He as well as Nanaba and Gelgar had started calling you Snorty, seeing you seem to snort a lot more than usual when you're with them, but they were simply too funny to be around so you couldn't really help it. You crinkled your nose at the nickname, rolling your eyes with a smile.
"Morning". You started taking spoonful's of porridge in your mouth, eventually looking up at Hange. "Hey Hange, I don't really have anything to do today. Do you need help with anything?", you asked, hoping she'd have something up her sleeve, like she always does. Her face lit up in a smile.
"YES! Of course Y/N, I'm always grateful for an extra set of hands!", she said excited, Moblit moving his attention from his notebook over to her.
"You're not going to feed her to a titan to demonstrate their lack of digestive system to her, are you?", a voice asked sarcastically from behind you. You turned to see Levi standing a couple of steps away from your table with his hands crossed. Hange laughed.
"Oh shorty, that sure would be an effective demonstration of their anatomy, but I'd rather our dear Y/N not get sacrificed in the name of science", she said with a wink. You huffed, finding it amusing whenever Levi decided to crack a little dark joke, even though it was on your expence. "No, me and Moblit are going to travel to Wall Rose and observe some of the titans roaming around from the top of the wall. You could always come with us to improve your noting skills", Hange offered.
"Yeah, I'd love to!", you agreed with a smile. The two of them smiled at you.
"Then I'm coming with", Levi suddenly stated, and you turned to him confused. You thought he would have something better to do on his spare time. "She's my responsibility as a member of my squad, and I don't trust her with you when you are in one of your titan-moods", he continued stating, looking at Hange. You couldn't shake away the feeling that there was something more to it than just you being his responsibility, but you decided not to push it.
"Sure, if that's what you want to do, I won't stop you", Hange answered him, getting up from the table, Moblit doing the same. "But I can't promise it will be an eventful day for you, shorty", she continued smugly. Levi rolled his eyes. "Well, we leave in an hour. Meet us by the flag post, all saddled up and ready to go. Don't forget your gear", Hange informed you heading for the exit, and you nodded. Levi had left already left, leaving you alone with Miche and Nanaba. You quickly finished your meal and talked some more with the two of them before you left to get ready for today's little excursion.
~
All settled and ready on your horses, you and Levi waited for Hange and Moblit by the flag post.
"I swear, she can never be on time", Levi muttered annoyed. You giggled a bit, enjoying the sunny weather. You could see the training grounds from there, spotting your friends and the other trainees working their asses off. They looked absolutely exhausted, and you felt bad thinking about how many hours they had left of this. To be fair, that was you a week ago. You didn't get any special treatment just because you became a member early.
It seemed like they got a little break to drink some water, because they suddenly dispersed around the area, slouching down to the ground in an exhausted manner. Connie linked eyes with you, nudging Sasha in her shoulder before pointing in your direction. Marco and Jean's heads turned around simultaneously. They started waving at you, suddenly seeming to gain a little more energy. You were to far away to hear what they were yelling, so you just laughed and waved back at them, motioning that you couldn't hear them.
"So your friends ended up joining after all?", Levi asked casually, your attention turning away from your friends and over to him.
"Yeah", you smiled. "I still don't know how I feel about it, but I know I'm happy they are with me though, so I have just decided to trust in them like you told me", you explained further. His usual stern look softened a little.
"Leviiiii, Y/NN, I'm so sorry!", you heard Hange exclaim, hurrying over to you on her horse, Moblit right beside her.
"Took a long crap, four eyes?", Levi asked unimpressed, his recently softened demeanour tensing up again.
"No, it went quite smoothly actually", she joked back. You smiled at their little feud, their dynamic was always quite entertaining. "I just got held up with some of the experiment's in my office. It was a lot more to note down than anticipated, I'm sorry for keeping you two waiting". Levi was about to take another jab at her, but you spoke before he had the chance.
"No worries Hange. The weather is quite pleasant today, so we didn't really mind, right Captain?", you assured her, giving Levi a smile as to tell him to play along at least. He looked at you for a second before sighing.
"Let's just get going already", he said impatient and kicked his horse in the side. The three of you followed. As you left the grounds of the Survey Corps HQ, you took a last glance over at your friends who had already reluctantly gone back to train.
~
"Look at that one!", Hange exclaimed fascinated, eagerly pointing at a titan laying down on its back, resting its head on in the palm of its hands, arms placed on the back of the neck.
"Okay, that's actually very creepy", you said as your eyes widened. "It's so weird seeing the abnormal ones kind of act like us". You shivered. Levi was sitting by the edge of the wall, thoroughly cleaning his already clean blades, while you sat beside Moblit- following his lead as he quickly sketched the titans Hange was observing, scribbling down everything important she noticed.
"Y/N! Make sure to get that detail down! It almost looks like it's thinking! What if it is?! Wouldn't that be exciting!", Hange rambled on. You had already drawn everything, moving on to sketch Hange as she moved around all excited. Moblit peeked over at your notebook, curious as to how you were doing, and let out a little chuckle as he saw what you drew.
"Look's nice Y/N", he told you with a smile. You beamed up at him, content in the way you managed to capture this moment of Hange's bliss.
"Let's take a little break guys, I'm starting to feel the effects of not sleeping for two days", Hange said modest, slouching down. You had been here for hours already, Hange talking non-stop about everything she observed that she found useful for her research. You got up from your seat to get some water from a bag Moblit had brought. Turning back around you noticed Hange leaning onto Moblit's back as she drifted off. Moblit just continued noting, a pleased smile on his face as Hange finally got a bit of rest. You sat down a little distance away and started drawing the sight.
It was peaceful, all four of you keeping to yourself, doing your own thing for a minute. You only got better and better at sketching things out quickly, taking your sweet time perfecting it afterwards when you had the action's outline locked in place, just like Moblit taught you. You shifted your attention over to Levi once you finished the drawing, sketching him as he moved on to rubbing the blade with his thumb, trying to scrape away a little stain of some sort. You finished sketching, starting to fill in the details when Levi noticed you peeping up at him every now and then.
"Hey brat, what are you looking at?", he asked brusque.
"Sorry sir, I didn't mean to creep you out or anything. I'm just practicing drawing", you said flustered, embarrassed that you made him feel uneasy. You showed him your drawing. «I hope it's okay, I kind of just practice drawing whatever I see moving", you excused yourself again. He scooched over to you until he was close enough to see properly. You noticed his demeanour soften again like it did before.
"Don't sweat it", he simply said after observing the picture for a while. He reached out for his blade again, continuing where he left of. "And it looks nice", he quickly added plainly, not moving his gaze from his blade.
"Thank you Captain", you said with a smile, adding some finishing touches.
After continuing with the observations for a couple of hours more, Levi finally reminded Hange it was time to head back, both dinner and the daily 6.pm afternoon tea with the squad coming up.
The ride back was peaceful. As the setting sun made your horse's grey mane glisten, you were reminded of the thanks you owed Hange.
"Hey Hange", you called out, all three of them turning their heads to look at you. "Thank you for the horse», you said sincerely. Her smile turned soft.
"Of course Y/N, no need to thank me. This way she won't just rot away in the stables", she told you.
"Do you know what your friend named her? I don't know if she responds to a certain name or if I have to figure out a new one...", you asked uncertain.
"Well, I honestly can't remember what Bernard named her. I think it's safe for you to give her one". She smiled. "Have you thought of anything yet?".
"Well, I have one idea, but I'm not sure what the official name is", you confessed.
"Try me! Maybe some of us knows. What is the 'un-official' name then?", she encouraged.
"It's this flower called 'forget-me-not'. I remember my mom telling me all flowers have another name, like in Latin or something like that", you reminisce.
"OH! I have this book of herbs and flowers with me in case there is need for an emergency ointment or medicine on our trips. Maybe it's in there!", she said, rummaging though the bag draped over the back of her horse. "Found it! Let us see here... F,f,f,f- Here! The Latin name for that flower is Myosotis", she informed you content.
"Myosotis, huh... I like it", you smiled, giving your horse a pat on the neck.
"Why that flower specifically?", Levi asked curious.
"Oh, it' s just a flower I was planning to give my mom that day", you said, your voice faltering a bit as you tried holding back your emotions. The others went quiet for a bit, just like they did when you mentioned Shiganshina in the tent the night you met Erwin. Levi looked a bit guilty for asking.
"It's fine guys, really. I just want to keep the memory alive I guess", you said with a smile, masking up your inner sadness. They all seemed to relax, the tense atmosphere dissolved.
"Well I for one like Myosotis a lot. It suits her", Hange said, Moblit agreeing by smiling. You nod at her, turning your gaze back to the front of your horse. You sighed.
"I'm starving, I wonder what is on the menu today!", you said sarcastically, all of you knowing well it was the same soup and rolls you have every day. The others snickered, the corners of Levi's mouth twitching upwards ever so slightly.
~
"Y/N! We saved you a seat!", Sasha called out from across the dining hall, waving at you as the four of you entered the room.
"See you guys later", you told them as you ran to get your food and sit with your friends. They had placed themselves at the table next to the veterans table. The tables here were a lot bigger than the ones at boot camp, making it so that there was room for all of your friends. The only ones who weren't present was Bertholdt and Reiner.
"We started to wonder when you would return, even bed-head Eren over here beat you to the table", Jean teased and Eren kicked him hard in the knee from under the table. "OUCH! You idiot!", Jean yelled and nudged Eren from across the table. Everyone close to your table looked over in curiosity, including your friends at the veterans table. You felt your face heat up and placed your head down, hiding in your arms.
"Jean! Eren! Get your shit together! This is embarassing... We are trying to eat!", you said stern, scolding them after they just kept on bickering. They scowled at each other, but backed away.
"Oi, Snorty to the rescue!", Nanaba joked, earning snickers from the others at the table. You looked over at them with your nose crinkled again, but let out a little laugh yourself.
"Snorty?", Connie asked mischievous.
'Oh no'
"Eh, well...", you didn't want to confirm it, you knew where this was going.
"Yeah, they call her that because she has started to snort a lot more while she laughs recently", Eren informed them with a chuckle. You kicked his shin.
"Eren! Don't give them any ideas!", you hissed.
"Too late!", Connie laughed. "Snorty it is", he said in between his gasps, the others joining him. You groaned in annoyance and hid your face again. You felt Marco place his hand on your back, rubbing small, comforting circles with his thumb. You tilted your head a bit to the left to look at him. He gave you a soft smile and you returned it, suddenly feeling a lot happier as the familiar feeling of butterflies forming in your stomach appeared.
*Y/N's drawings of Hange, Moblit and Levi (from Pinterest):
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A/N:
Here is another filler chapter. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it:)
Have a wonderful day!<3
~Jen